Berlin, 22.10.13: One month after the parliamentary elections, the constituent session of the German Bundestag is held.
Prior to the session all members of the German Bundestag were invited to attend an ecumenical church service in St. Hedwig’s Cathedral.
Andreas Voßkuhne, President of the Federal Constitutional Court, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bundestag President Norbert Lammert attended.
As in 2005, the President by age, Heinz Riesenhuber, opened the first session of the new Bundestag.
Many guests, including Federal President Joachim Gauck, watched from the visitors’ gallery.
591 members of the newly constituted Bundestag voted in favour of re-electing Bundestag President Norbert Lammert.
There are four parliamentary groups in the 18th German Bundestag: 311 from the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), 193 from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), 64 from The Left Party (Die Linke) and 63 from The Greens (Die Grünen)
In the evening the Federal President welcomed the outgoing Chancellor and Cabinet Ministers ...
...and presented them with their certificates of discharge
The period of office of the government officially came to an end with the constituent session of the new German Bundestag.
Joachim Gauck thanked the outgoing ministers for their services to Germany and the German people.
Until a new government is formed, the outgoing government will stay on as acting government.
A reception wound up the ceremony at which the certificates of discharge were presented to the members of the outgoing government.